Preview

Charles Sanders Peirce (b. 1839–d. 1914) was a polymathic but influential thinker who is widely regarded as America’s first great philosopher. His work and interests are broad and multifaceted, but his greatest and most interesting philosophical achievements include playing a foundational role in the pragmatist movement, an approach to philosophy characterized by its concern with the practical upshots of our philosophical concepts; developing a pragmatist account of truth and inquiry; playing a central role in the development of modern formal logics; developing a sophisticated view of science...

Charles Sanders Peirce (b. 1839–d. 1914) was a polymathic but influential thinker who is widely regarded as America’s first great philosopher. His work and interests are broad and multifaceted, but his greatest and most interesting philosophical achievements include playing a foundational role in the pragmatist movement, an approach to philosophy characterized by its concern with the practical upshots of our philosophical concepts; developing a pragmatist account of truth and inquiry; playing a central role in the development of modern formal logics; developing a sophisticated view of science and scientific practice; inventing a complex and influential account of signification and representation; and developing deep and interesting accounts of metaphysics. Despite these achievements, his work is arguably still underestimated and under-explored, due in part to the details of his life and availability of his work. Nonetheless, there is a wealth of interesting literature in many of these areas, and lively research on Peirce, his philosophy, and its contemporary relevance.